WO2016173163A1

WO2016173163A1 - Refrigerator and method for detecting used capacity of refrigerator

Info

Publication number: WO2016173163A1
Application number: PCT/CN2015/088663
Authority: WO
Inventors: 李春阳; 刘来平; 高广亮; 王铭
Original assignee: 青岛海尔股份有限公司
Priority date: 2015-04-30
Filing date: 2015-08-31
Publication date: 2016-11-03
Also published as: CN104897232B; CN104897232A

Abstract

A refrigerator comprises an illuminating light source (500), at least one detection assembly (100), and a capacity calculation device (200). The illuminating light source (500) is configured to provide visible light to the interior of a storage compartment (400). Each detection assembly (100) at least comprises: an infrared light source (120), configured to send infrared light to the interior of the storage compartment (400); and a light-sensitive component (130), configured to detect the visible light intensity and the infrared light intensity in the positions where the detection assemblies (100) are located. The capacity calculation unit (200) acquires the visible light intensity and the infrared light intensity and calculates the used capacity of the storage compartment (400) according to the visible light intensity and the infrared light intensity. Also disclosed is a method for detecting the used capacity of the refrigerator. The detection assemblies (100) are disposed in the storage compartment (400), the used capacity of the storage compartment (400) of the refrigerator is detected by means of an optical principle, and the detection result is precise, thereby improving the use experience of a user.

Description

Method for detecting the volume of use of refrigerators and refrigerators

Technical field

The invention relates to the field of refrigerator control, and in particular to a method for detecting the volume of use of a refrigerator and a refrigerator.

Background technique

The intelligentization of refrigerators is one of the development directions of refrigerators, and it is also the focus of research and development of many refrigerator manufacturers. With the improvement of living standards, people's requirements for refrigerators not only stay at the level of basic food storage and preservation functions, but also meet the requirements for intelligent operation that can facilitate people's lives and improve their quality of life.

As a household appliance for storing food, the user needs to know the use of the internal space of the refrigerator to determine the amount of food stored. In the prior art, people generally estimate the volume of use of the refrigerator by opening the door of the refrigerator and observing the compartment. This requires the user to operate near the refrigerator, and often switching the refrigerator door will adversely affect the storage of the food, which brings great inconvenience to the user.

Based on the above problems, various techniques such as measuring the weight of objects in the refrigerator, detecting the storage state of a specific storage place, and arranging a camera by using a weight sensor have also appeared in the prior art for obtaining the use of the space of the refrigerator, but some of these solutions are used. The test results are inaccurate, some can only detect special foods, and can not accurately reflect the actual use of the refrigerator volume.

Summary of the invention

It is an object of the present invention to provide a volumetric detection of a refrigerator by means of optical sensing.

It is a further object of the present invention to enable a user to accurately understand how much food is inside the refrigerator.

According to an aspect of the invention, a refrigerator is provided. The refrigerator includes: an illumination source disposed in a storage compartment of the refrigerator, configured to provide visible light to the storage compartment; at least one detection component disposed in the storage compartment, each detection component including at least: an infrared light source configured to Infrared light is emitted into the interior of the storage compartment, and the light sensing device is configured to detect the visible light intensity and the infrared light intensity at the position where the detecting component is located; and the volume calculating device is connected to the light sensing device of the at least one detecting component and configured to: Obtain visible light intensity and infrared light intensity, and according to visible light intensity and infrared light The strength is used to calculate the volume of use of the storage compartment.

Optionally, the above refrigerator further comprises: a control device respectively connected to the volume calculation device and the at least one detection component, and configured to: acquire a volume calculation trigger signal, and control the volume calculation device and the at least one detection component to be turned on.

Optionally, the control device is further configured to: acquire the usage volume calculated by the volume calculation device; and adjust the refrigeration state of the refrigerator according to the usage volume and/or output the usage volume to the user.

Optionally, the volume calculation device is arranged on one of the detection assemblies or is arranged with the control device on a main control panel of the refrigerator.

Optionally, the at least one detecting component is plural and distributed inside the peripheral wall of the storage compartment.

Optionally, the angle between the line connecting the center points of any two detecting components disposed on the same plane of the peripheral wall and the other planes intersecting the plane in the peripheral wall are not 0 degrees or 90 degrees; and are arranged on different planes of the peripheral wall. The angle between the line connecting the center points of any two detection components and the horizontal or vertical plane is not 0 or 90 degrees.

Optionally, the detecting component is one, disposed inside the peripheral wall of the storage compartment having a volume smaller than a preset threshold.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a method of detecting a volume of use of a refrigerator is also provided. The method includes: activating an illumination device disposed inside a storage compartment of the refrigerator and an infrared light source of the at least one detection component to provide visible light and infrared light to the compartment of the refrigerator; and enabling the light sensing device of the at least one detection component to be activated, The visible light intensity and the infrared light intensity of the respective positions of the detecting components are detected; and the use volume of the storage compartment is calculated according to the visible light intensity and the infrared light intensity.

Optionally, before the step of starting the illumination device and the infrared light source, the method further includes: acquiring a volume calculation trigger signal, and the volume calculation trigger signal includes any one or more of the following: a timing signal, a door closing signal of the refrigerator, and a trigger signal of the user operation. .

Optionally, after the step of calculating the volume of use of the storage compartment, the method further comprises: obtaining the calculated usage volume; and adjusting the cooling state of the refrigerator according to the usage volume and/or outputting the usage volume to the user.

The use volume detecting method of the refrigerator and the refrigerator of the invention arranges the detecting component in the storage room, and uses the optical principle to detect the used volume of the refrigerator storage room, and the detection result is accurate, and the refrigerator door body is not required to be opened, thereby improving the user. The experience of using and maintaining a good storage environment for food.

Further, the method for detecting the volume of use of the refrigerator and the refrigerator of the present invention can realize intelligent control of the refrigerator by using the detected volume of the refrigerator, thereby improving the degree of intelligence of the refrigerator.

The above as well as other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the <

DRAWINGS

Some specific embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below by way of example, and not limitation. The same reference numbers in the drawings identify the same or similar parts. Those skilled in the art should understand that the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. In the figure:

1 is a schematic structural block diagram of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a schematic view showing an arrangement position of a detecting assembly in a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a schematic view showing an arrangement position of a detecting assembly in a refrigerator according to another embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a schematic diagram of a method of detecting a volume of use of a refrigerator in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

detailed description

1 is a schematic block diagram of a refrigerator in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. The refrigerator may generally include at least one detection assembly 100, a volume calculation device 200, and an illumination source 500. The illumination source 500 is disposed within the storage compartment 400 of the refrigerator and is configured to provide visible light into the storage compartment 400. The detection assembly 100 is disposed in the storage compartment 400 of the refrigerator for emitting infrared light and detecting the intensity of visible light and infrared light. Specifically, each detecting component 100 includes at least an infrared light source 120 and a light sensing device 130. The infrared light source 120 is configured to emit infrared light to the interior of the storage compartment 400. The light sensing device 130 is configured to detect the intensity of visible light and the intensity of infrared light at the location where the detection assembly 100 is located. The number of detection assemblies 100 can be determined based on the volume and configuration of the storage compartment 400. After extensive testing by the inventors, it was determined that a detection assembly 100 can be utilized for the storage compartment 400 of 30 L or less. For a storage compartment 400 that is larger than 30 L and has a layered structure, a plurality of detection assemblies 100 need to be arranged.

In the refrigerator storage room of the embodiment, the illumination light source 500 can also provide illumination light to the user after the user opens the door. The light of the illumination source needs to meet the volume detection requirements, otherwise other visible light sources need to be added in the storage compartment 400.

With the change in the use size of the use volume of the storage compartment 400, the reflection and occlusion of visible light and infrared light in the storage compartment 400 are changed, and the propagation characteristics of visible light and infrared light are also different. Human summarization and testing, summed up the law of visible light intensity and infrared light intensity as a function of volume of use, using optical principles to achieve the detection of refrigerator volume.

The volume calculation device 200 is electrically connected to the at least one detection component 100 and configured to: The visible light intensity and the infrared light intensity are obtained, and the use volume of the storage compartment 400 is calculated based on the visible light intensity and the infrared light intensity.

2 and 3 respectively show schematic views of a plurality of detecting assemblies 100 and one detecting assembly 100 disposed in the refrigerator storage compartment 400, wherein when the detecting assembly 100 is plural, the plurality of detecting assemblies 100 are distributed in the storage The inner side of the peripheral wall of the compartment 400, and the angle between the line connecting the center points of any two detecting assemblies 100 disposed on the same plane of the peripheral wall and the other planes intersecting the plane in the peripheral wall are not 0 degrees or 90 degrees; The angle between the line connecting the center points of any two detecting assemblies 100 on different planes of the peripheral wall and the horizontal or vertical plane is not 0 or 90 degrees.

According to the above requirements, if at least two of the plurality of detecting assemblies 100 are disposed on the top or bottom wall, the wires and sidewalls of the center points of any two of the detecting assemblies 100 disposed on the top or bottom wall The angle of the vertical plane is not 0 or 90 degrees. If at least two of the plurality of detecting assemblies 100 are disposed on the side walls, the detecting assemblies 100 disposed on the side walls are spaced apart in the vertical direction. If the storage compartment 400 is further provided with a shelf disposed in parallel with the top wall to divide the storage compartment 400 into a plurality of storage compartments, a detection assembly 100 needs to be disposed in each storage compartment.

Figure 2 shows the case where three detection assemblies 100 are respectively arranged on three sides of the side walls. According to the positional relationship of the three detecting components 100 in the vertical direction, they are referred to as a first detecting component 101, a second detecting component 102, and a third detecting component 103, respectively.

The structure shown in Figure 2 performs a specific algorithm using volumetric detection:

The calculation of the used volume of the storage interval of the detection target includes estimating the volume of the storage interval of the detection target according to Equation 1:

Formula 1: Vn'=SnA×kn,

In Equation 1, n is the sequence number of the detection component 100 within the detection target storage interval, Vn' is the estimated value corresponding to the nth detection component 100, and SnA is the visible light intensity value detected by the nth detection component 100, kn is a visible light estimation coefficient of the nth detecting component 100;

The estimated Vn' is corrected according to Equation 2:

Formula 2: Vn=Vn'+∑SmA×Mmn;

In Formula 2, m is the serial number of the detecting component 100 adjacent to the detecting component 100 in the vertical direction of the storage interval of the detecting target, m is taken as n-1 and/or n+1, and SmA is mth. The detection component 100 detects the obtained visible light intensity, and Mmn is a calculated correction factor of the mth detection component 100 for the nth detection component 100, which is calculated according to Formula 3:

Equation 3: Mmn = (Smp × Jmn) / (SmA × Tmn),

In Equation 3, Smp is the infrared light intensity detected by the mth detecting component 100, Jmn is the mth detecting component 100 detecting the infrared light correction constant for the nth detecting component 100, and Tmn is the mth detecting component 100. The distance value corresponding to the obtained infrared light intensity is detected. Kn and Jmn are constants pre-stored in the refrigerator, and are obtained by preliminary test statistics.

For the first detecting component 101, the detecting component 100 adjacent in the vertical direction is the second detecting component 102, and its volume is:

V1 = S1A × k1 + S2A × ((S2P × J21) / (S2A × T21)).

For the second detecting component 102, the detecting components 100 adjacent in the vertical direction are the first detecting component 101 and the third detecting component 103, and the volume thereof is:

V2 = S2A × k2 + S1A × ((S1P × J12) / (S1A × T12)) + S3A × ((S3P × J32) / (S3A × T32)).

For the third detecting component 103, the adjacent detecting component 100 in the vertical direction is the second detecting component 102, and its volume is:

V3 = S3A × k3 + S2A × ((S2P × J23) / (S3A × T23)).

If the usage volume of the storage interval of the first detecting component 101, the second detecting component 102, and the third detecting component 103 is required, V1, V2, and V3 can be directly used. If it is desired to detect the total usage volume of the storage compartment 400, V1, V2, and V3 can be accumulated.

The above detection principle is that visible light can be irradiated through the glass at equal intervals and irradiated throughout the storage compartment 400, and generally infrared light cannot pass through the glass at equal intervals.

In the case where the available volume of the storage compartment 400 is small, for example, less than 30 L, only one detection assembly 100 may be disposed. The detection algorithm is:

Estimate the volume of use according to Equation 4:

Equation 4: V'=SA×k+SP×J×T/SA. In Equation 4, V′ is an estimated value of the used volume, SA is the visible light intensity value detected by the detecting component 100, and k is the detecting component 100. The visible light estimation coefficient, SP is the infrared light intensity value detected by the detecting component 100, J is the infrared light correction constant of the detecting component 100, and T is the distance value corresponding to the infrared light intensity detected by the detecting component 100. k and J are constants previously stored in the refrigerator, and it is determined by preliminary test that the values of k and J are also determined after the refrigerator volume and the position of the detecting component are determined. .

The above volume calculating device 200 may be integrated with one of the detecting assemblies 100 or may be disposed on the main control board of the refrigerator.

The refrigerator of the present example may further include: a control device 300. The control device 300 can control the detecting component 100 and the volume calculating device 200, and can also measure the ice according to the used volume. The cooling of the box is intelligently controlled. For example, control device 300 can be coupled to volume computing device 200 and at least one detection component 100, respectively, and configured to: acquire a volumetric calculation trigger signal, and control volumetric computing device 200 and at least one detection component 100 to be turned on. The trigger signal may be a refrigerator closing signal. Generally, the refrigerator door is generally opened for picking up and discharging food, so the control device 300 can trigger a volume detection every time the door is closed.

In addition, the control device 300 is further configured to: acquire the usage volume calculated by the volume calculation device 200; and adjust the cooling state of the refrigerator according to the usage volume and/or output the usage volume to the user. For example, after acquiring the door closing signal of the refrigerator, the volume detecting device in the refrigerator storage room 400 is activated to detect the use volume of the storage room 400; the detected use volume and the used volume before the refrigerator is closed; The used volume is greater than the usage volume before the door is closed, and the cold source driving the storage compartment 400 is operated at a high power to bring the refrigerator into the quick cooling mode. So that the temperature of the food just put in drops rapidly. The time to enter the quick cooling mode can be determined according to the magnitude of the volume change. The control device 300 can also output the usage volume to the user terminal in a wireless manner, and output a food supplemental cueing signal to the refrigerator user when the usage volume is less than the preset volume threshold.

Embodiments of the present invention also provide a method of detecting a volume of use of a refrigerator. 4 is a schematic diagram of a method for detecting a volume of use of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention, the method comprising:

Step S402, the illumination device disposed inside the storage compartment 400 of the refrigerator and the infrared light source 120 in the at least one detection component 100 are activated to provide visible light and infrared light to the compartment of the refrigerator;

Step S404, the light sensing device 130 of the at least one detecting component 100 is activated to detect the visible light intensity and the infrared light intensity of the respective positions of the detecting component 100;

In step S406, the use volume of the storage compartment 400 is calculated based on the visible light intensity and the infrared light intensity.

The volume calculation trigger signal may also be acquired before step S402. The volume calculation trigger signal includes any one or more of the following: a timing signal, a door closing signal of the refrigerator, and a trigger signal operated by the user.

Also after step S406, the calculated usage volume may be acquired; and the refrigeration state of the refrigerator may be adjusted according to the usage volume and/or the usage volume may be output to the user.

In this regard, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the <RTIgt;the</RTI> <RTIgt; </ RTI> <RTIgt; </ RTI> <RTIgt; </ RTI> <RTIgt; The content directly determines or derives many other variations or modifications consistent with the principles of the invention. Therefore, the scope of the invention should be understood and construed as covering all such other modifications or modifications.

Claims

A refrigerator comprising:

An illumination source disposed in the storage compartment of the refrigerator, configured to provide visible light to the storage compartment;

At least one detecting component disposed in the storage compartment, each detecting component at least comprising:

An infrared light source configured to emit infrared light into the interior of the storage compartment, and

a light sensing device configured to detect visible light intensity and infrared light intensity at a position where the detecting component is located; and

a volume calculation device coupled to the light sensing device of the at least one detection component and configured to: acquire the visible light intensity and the infrared light intensity, and calculate the storage according to the visible light intensity and the infrared light intensity The volume of use of the compartment.
The refrigerator of claim 1, further comprising:

And a control device coupled to the volume calculation device and the at least one detection component, respectively, and configured to: acquire a volume calculation trigger signal, and control the volume calculation device and the at least one detection component to be turned on.
The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein said control device is further configured to:

Obtaining the usage volume calculated by the volume calculation device; and

The cooling state of the refrigerator is adjusted according to the usage volume and/or the usage volume is output to a user.
The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein

The volume calculation device is disposed on one of the detection assemblies or disposed with the control device on a main control panel of the refrigerator.
The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein

The plurality of at least one detecting component is distributed inside the peripheral wall of the storage compartment.
A refrigerator according to claim 5, wherein

a line connecting the center points of any two detecting components disposed on the same plane of the peripheral wall and the circumference The angles of other planes in the wall that intersect the plane are not 0 degrees or 90 degrees;

The angle between the line connecting the center points of any two detecting components disposed on different planes of the peripheral wall and the horizontal or vertical plane is not 0 or 90 degrees.
The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein

The detecting component is one disposed inside the peripheral wall of the storage compartment having a volume smaller than a preset threshold.
A method for detecting a volume of a refrigerator, comprising:

Illuminating an illumination device disposed inside the storage compartment of the refrigerator and an infrared light source of the at least one detection component to provide visible light and infrared light to the compartment of the refrigerator;

Activating the light sensing device of the at least one detecting component to detect visible light intensity and infrared light intensity at respective locations of the detecting component;

The use volume of the storage compartment is calculated based on the visible light intensity and the infrared light intensity.
The method of claim 8 further comprising: prior to the step of enabling said illumination device and said infrared source to:

Obtaining a volume calculation trigger signal, the volume calculation trigger signal comprising any one or more of the following: a timing signal, a door closing signal of the refrigerator, and a trigger signal of a user operation.
The method of claim 8 further comprising: after calculating the volume of use of said storage compartment:

Obtaining the calculated usage volume; and

The cooling state of the refrigerator is adjusted according to the usage volume and/or the usage volume is output to a user.